Chorizo & Potato Empanadas with cilantro cream

My Mom used to make pastelios or empanadas often for my family when I was young. Nowadays she looks to me to make them for her. She used to stuff them with a ground beef picadillo or she would add a little pizza sauce and some mozzarella and would call them "pizza" pastelios. I made these recently during a family get together and they were a hit. The best thing about empanadas is that you can stuff them with just about anything and they will be equally delicious.

Let's first make the cilantro cream which is going to add a zesty creaminess to the empanadas when you eat them. In a small bowl combine the sour cream, lime juice, oregano, salt and fresh chopped cilantro. Stir to combine and that is it. Set it aside in the fridge until you are ready to use it.

Now for the filling. Saute the chopped onion in a few drizzles of olive oil for a few minutes. Add in the chorizo breaking it up with your spoon as you sauté it with the onions. Add in the garlic, potatoes, olives, cumin, oregano and salt. Stir everything together.

Now pour in the chicken stock and cover the pan for about 10 minutes on low to medium heat. You want the potatoes to steam and cook through. If after 10 minutes the potatoes aren't tender cover the pan again and wait an additional 5-10 minutes more. The empanada mixture should be soft and tender. Set it aside to cool.

This is my empanada press...another one of my best friends. I bought it on Amazon a few years ago. If you turn it over you can use it to cut perfect circles out of fresh empanada dough...

...but remember I am a stay at home wife and mom. So while I would love to make my own empanada dough today is not one of those days so I will settle for Goya empanada shells in the freezer aisle.

Place 1 disc of dough onto the empanada press. Have a small bowl of water on the side available. Moisten the edges of the dough with your fingertips. Place about 2 teaspoons of your filling into the center of the dough. Slowly fold the empanada press over pressing tight. Pretty neat right? I love it! If you don't have an empanada press you can just as easily fold the dough over with your hands and press the edges with a fork to seal it.

Get the oil ready for frying. You want to fry the empanadas for about 2-3 minutes or until they are golden brown.

Serve your empanadas with cilantro cream. And don't be surprised if you turn around and find that you have eaten 4 of them in one sitting.